I had, if not the most meaningful moment in my teaching career this week, most definitely one of them. On Friday, at the end of the day I had a year 13 pupil arrive at the door of the classroom I was working in and asked if I had a minute, I told him of course and welcomed him in. He told me that he had just had his last day before his exams but before he left he wanted to come and say thank you to me. He thanked me for listening to him four years ago and helping him get some further support. I tried to brush it off and say that it wasn't anything and he stopped and said 'no miss, I honestly don't think i'd be alive today if I couldn't have spoken to you, you were the only person I had at the time'. Four years ago that young man had come to me at the most inconvenient time, as is always the case, and asked if he could talk to me. He told me about his self harm and his struggles about sexuality as well as issues at home. All i did was listen, follow the safeguarding procedures in school to get him the correct support and then keep listening until he had professional support in place and didn't need me any more. He'd bought me a chocolate bar and reassured me he was doing really well. Every PSHE lesson I teach, i remind pupils that I am a safe adult they can come to if they wish. I think sometimes we get so caught up in ensuring the marking is done or the planning is on point and forget that sometimes just being there and really caring is also a vital part of the job. I often question whether I should concentrate on Youcantknoweverything Education full time but i think those two days a week spent in a classroom do help me to really understand what it is our young people of today need as well as allowing me to make that difference.